Financial Times (January 9)Financial Times (January 9)
“The United Kingdom has long been a reluctant European. From the moment of accession to the then European Economic Community, four decades ago, its membership has been marked by misguided assumptions and missed opportunities.” A referendum should be held to let the people determine the UKs place in the EU. The Financial Times believes continuing membership “is central to the national interest. Our reasons go beyond a purely economic calculation of cost and benefit. They have to do with Britain’s place in the world. Membership gives the UK influence over the biggest global market. It helps to keep the US relationship special. It amplifies the UK’s sway in a world where economic power is shifting eastward.”
“The United Kingdom has long been a reluctant European. From the moment of accession to the then European Economic Community, four decades ago, its membership has been marked by misguided assumptions and missed opportunities.” A referendum should be held to let the people determine the UKs place in the EU. The Financial Times believes continuing membership “is central to the national interest. Our reasons go beyond a purely economic calculation of cost and benefit. They have to do with Britain’s place in the world. Membership gives the UK influence over the biggest global market. It helps to keep the US relationship special. It amplifies the UK’s sway in a world where economic power is shifting eastward.”
Tags: EEC, EU, Influence, Membership, Referendum, U.S., UK
Los Angeles Times (January 8)
“Last year was the hottest year on record for the contiguous 48 states, marked by near-record numbers of extreme weather events such as drought, wildfire, tornadoes and storms.” Furthermore, a growing body of research now indicates what many have long suspected: “global warming is linked to extreme weather events.”
Tags: Extreme weather, Global warming, Heat, Record heat, U.S.
Investment Week (January 8)
Is the Euro crisis over? The answer depends on who’s speaking. In Lisbon, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, declared the crisis was over. But “Barroso’s comments were in stark contrast to those given by German chancellor Angela Merkel, who said in her New Year’s address that the euro crisis, though improving, was ‘far from over.’”
The Economist (January 7)
Hopes that Bashar Assad might step aside, making room for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria, evaporated after a defiant speech on January 6. The war has claimed an estimated 60,000 Syrian lives. With the opposition determined not to “negotiate a political solution to the crisis until Mr Assad is out of the picture, both sides are still trying for a military victory.” Mr Assad’s “speech provided no reason to believe the bloodshed will end soon.”
Tags: Bashar Assad, Crisis, Diplomacy, Military, Opposition, Solution, Syria
Time (January 7)
The gang rape of a female student on December 16 has kept India on edge. Protests have been held demanding social change and “swift justice” for the woman who died on December 29. “The upheaval of the past three weeks has exposed other deep fractures, raising difficult questions not only about the status of women in India but also about increasing violence, widening class divides and the delivery of justice in the world’s largest democracy.”
New York Times (January 6)
“To put the rise of China in perspective, “the 70 richest delegates to China’s National People’s Congress have a collective net worth of almost $90 billion…. That’s more than 10 times the collective net worth of the entire American Congress.”
“To put the rise of China in perspective, “the 70 richest delegates to China’s National People’s Congress have a collective net worth of almost $90 billion…. That’s more than 10 times the collective net worth of the entire American Congress.”
Tags: China, Congress, National People's Congress, Net worth, U.S.
Los Angeles Times (January 6)
“Societal change usually happens slowly, even once it’s clear there’s a problem.” This is not necessarily a bad thing. A leisurely pace allows a consensus to be established, eliminating backlash. “With climate change, however, there simply isn’t time to waste…. It’s a fight between human beings and physics. And physics is entirely uninterested in human timetables. Physics couldn’t care less if precipitous action raises gas prices or damages the coal industry in swing states. It couldn’t care less whether putting a price on carbon slowed the pace of development in China or made agribusiness less profitable.”
Tags: Agribusiness, Carbon, China, Climate change, Coal, Pace, Societal change
The Economist (January 5)
Japan’s “dangerously nationalistic new cabinet is the last thing Asia needs” and “rings alarms” on the domestic front, as well, due to the shortage of “economic modernizers.” One half of the cabinet positions went to “MPs who inherited Diet seats from their families. Worse, its members are gripped by a backward-looking, distorted view of history that paints Japan as a victim.”
Tags: Asia, Backward-looking, Cabinet, Diet, Economy, Japan, Nationalistic
Barrons (January 3)
During the 2012 “ebb and flow of fortunes,” several shifts took place among ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals. UHNW individuals have a net worth of $30 million and up, and their numbers increased by 0.6% to 187,380 in 2012. Their $25.8 trillion in combined wealth “is roughly double the U.S.’s GDP.” In general, UHNW individuals did better during 2012 in the U.S., where fortunes were up, than in Asia, which lost 2.1% of its UHNW members and 6.8% of its collective net worth. Australia, New Zealand and the rest of Oceania witnessed “the highest percentage of growth in its UHNW population, up an impressive 5.9%,” with overall wealth rising 4.4%.
Financial Times (January 1)
From the onset, Xi Jinping has set a new tone as general secretary of the Communist party. China needs far sweeping reforms as it works to boost domestic demand, strengthen the social safety net, improve governance, and empower consumers and free enterprise. He “should be bold in pushing change” and avoid hiding “reform behind tougher foreign policy.” Dialing down the intensity of territorial disputes would “be a boon for regional peace and security. It would also allow Mr Xi to concentrate on his very real problems at home.”
